This invention related to exercise apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus that will provide a sustained aerobic workout while exercising the muscles of the legs, arms, and torso, while maintaining the body in a vertically oriented balanced position.
The current trend for improved health has generated a vast number of different exercise devices, many of which can be classified as stair steppers or climbers, all of which equipment are designed to provide an aerobic workout for the user by exercising various muscles of the body.
One such apparatus designed as a stair stepper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,872 issued on Jul. 14, 1992 to Dalton, et al. This device includes a pair of horizontal foot levers and a pair of vertically extending hand levers all connected by resilient linkage to allow discontinuity between the rotation of the foot levers and the hand levers. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,770 issued on Oct. 8, 1991 to Bull.
A simplified climbing exercise device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,785 issued on Aug. 20, 1991 to Charnitski which discloses an endless chain supported on an inclined track having upper handles and lower foot supports, the chain being fabricated in a figure eight or in a loop to provide different patterns of exercising movements. A similar construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,361 issued on Dec. 8, 1992 to Hsien-Long Hsui.
It should be noted that the above patented apparatus do not provide for independent motion of the legs and arms, and with the arms working in opposition to the weight borne by each of the user's legs. In the prior art devices, the arm levers function only to reposition the foot levers for the next stroke.